A writer must “know and have an ever-present consciousness that this world is a world of fools and rogues… tormented with envy, consumed with vanity; selfish, false, cruel, cursed with illusions… He should free himself of all doctrines, theories, etiquettes, politics…” —Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?). “The nobility of the writer's occupation lies in resisting oppression, thus in accepting isolation” —Albert Camus (1913-1960). “What are you gonna do” —Bertha Brown (1895-1987).

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Ending the Exploitation of and the Reliance on a Contingent Academic Labor System in Higher Education from the American Federation of Teachers

WHEREAS, American colleges and
universities have long been recognized as world leaders in higher education,
both in instruction and in research; and

WHEREAS, access to and success in
higher education are more important than ever to ensure that students reach
their fullest potential and that the United States continues to develop as a
just society, a vibrant democracy and an engine of opportunity; and

WHEREAS, frontline academic
workers—college faculty—are central to the mission of providing a high-quality
education to students; and

WHEREAS, this promise demands that
students be taught and mentored by faculty and staff who are well-prepared,
professionally supported and guaranteed a voice in academic decisions; and

WHEREAS, this reputation is being
undermined by the systematic dismantling of the structures that contributed to
the system’s efficacy and quality; and

WHEREAS, the promise of higher
education is under attack by those who demand and pursue austerity,
polarization, privatization and de-professionalization; and

WHEREAS, state appropriations for
higher education per full-time enrollment have been cut to their lowest level
in 25 years, an ongoing disinvestment that disproportionately impacts
institutions serving those who have traditionally been excluded from higher
education; and

WHEREAS, state disinvestment has also
led to an instructional workforce in which more than 75 percent of available
jobs are contingent; and

WHEREAS, the exclusion of
three-quarters of faculty from permanence, shared governance and the full
protection of academic freedom weakens the entire college or university, and
the weakening of shared governance has contributed to the undermining of
academic quality as administrators attempt to seize control of the curriculum
from faculty; and

WHEREAS, contingent faculty face
precarious employment situations from term to term; uncertainty about their
prospects for being rehired, despite rehiring being a repetitive process that
occurs every term; uncertainty or late notifications about what courses they
will be teaching when they are rehired, which affect their ability to prepare
for these courses; and

WHEREAS, while contingent faculty are among
the most talented and dedicated of educators, their working conditions affect
student learning conditions: Contingent faculty’s lack of access to equitable
pay and benefits, lack of job security, lack of access to professional
supports, and lack of access to a voice in their workplace and profession place
constraints on the quality of the education they are providing; and

WHEREAS, polling data show that almost
half of contingent faculty would prefer full-time, tenure-track positions; and

WHEREAS, the institutional practice of
relying on a system of labor that exploits a large number of precarious faculty
undermines the educational and civic missions of our colleges and universities;
and

WHEREAS, if we are to reclaim the
promise of higher education and provide a high-quality college experience for
all students, we must begin with a fundamental reinvestment in the higher
education instructional staff, and we must demand an end to the reliance on an
underpaid and under supported contingent workforce:

RESOLVED,
that the American Federation of Teachers reaffirm its commitment to ending the
practice of contingent employment as the normalized state of employment for
faculty, as well as to improving the lives of contingent faculty by ending the
rank exploitation of the majority of the higher education instructional
workforce; and

RESOLVED,
that the AFT will work with contingent faculty to organize local unions for the
purpose of collective bargaining in order to improve their lives and working
conditions; and

RESOLVED,
that the AFT will conduct research on the impact of contingency on the lives of
faculty, on academic institutions, on students and on the economy—where low
wages not only prevent workers from contributing to economic growth, but also
promote taxpayer subsidization for services that are accessible to those
employed in stable jobs; and

RESOLVED,
that the AFT will continue to work with its affiliates and promote their
successes in collective bargaining to bring about the elimination of
contingency within the instructional workforce by advocating for faculty
currently in contingent positions and all new faculty entering the workforce to
achieve:

Pay equity, including compensation for class
preparation time and office hours;

Equitable access to employee benefits;

Access to and compensation for opportunities for
professional development;

Opportunities for career advancement, including
conversion opportunities to full-time, tenure-track positions;

Enforceable standards for the timely notification of
teaching appointments;

Protections for academic freedom, regardless of tenure
status; and

Full inclusion in and compensation for participation in
all institutional work, including service, research and governance; and

RESOLVED,
that the AFT will continue to work with and mobilize its affiliates to increase
funding for instruction and student support services and ensure that these
funds are used to build a stable and professional faculty corps and expand
access for contingent faculty to healthcare, retirement and unemployment
insurance; and

RESOLVED,
that the AFT will continue to engage in collective action with our affiliates,
our members, our students and our communities to build a movement that educates
people about the impact of contingency on the lives of teachers and their
students and on the quality of education and effectively advocates for
high-quality, student-centered public colleges and universities that are
grounded by a stable, professional instructional workforce; and

RESOLVED,
that the AFT will work toward these ends in unity with students, parents, faculty,
staff and the community to reclaim the promise of higher education.

Teacher/Poet/Musician

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Persona

"I want everything to be explained to me or nothing. And reason is impotent when it hears this cry from the heart. The mind aroused by this insistence seeks and finds nothing but contradiction and nonsense" —Albert Camus (1913-1960).